Welcome to the JIAC Service Framework Portal!

JIAC is a Service Framework for the easy and effective development of intelliegent device and dependent services and applications for the telecommunication market.

Introduction

The Multi-Access Service Platform project is dedicated to development and implementation of a novel user interface (UI) management system to facilitate adaptive and device independent distribution of UIs in smart environments. Smart environments are equipped with a heterogeneous manifold of cross-linked electronic appliances and sensors. In the future they will become more and more common in public buildings, office and industrial environments as well as in private housing, facilitating many novel services, but also posing complex problems for service development and deployment. The MASP addresses these new problems by aggregating different devices into one overall user interface and providing a developer framework for seamless and context adaptive services to be deployed on this integrated interface.

For any service, the MASP provides basic features such as Adaptation to device capabilities or context, Session Management, to enable the user to manage multiple tasks simultaneously, Migration between devices and modalities to support the users mobility, Distribution across multiple devices enabling a convenient access and Multimodal Interaction Capabilities. These basic features can be used by the developer to enhance applications and make their usage more intuitive. They also serve the user to tailor user interfaces to his personal needs. For the service development process, the MASP provides a user interface model, allowing to define user interface and application behaviour, a development methodology and tools, supporting the UI creation and a runtime system, interpreting the model to perform the required adaptations.

Through the use of a tools-driven process consisting of an Eclipse-based editor, a simulator and a debugger, the MASP implements a development methodology that supports the creation of increasingly complex user interfaces based on a UI model. Different levels of abstractions are supported, such as task-, domain-, service- und interaction-models. The runtime system represents the core of the MASP. It processes newly-developed models and creates multimodal user interfaces adapted to environment sensor data and interaction device characteristics. Various devices and languages can be connected via configurable interaction channels.

Depending on the actual context-of-use the user interface is derived from the runtime model. It then is distributed and adapted across different devices that support various modalities. After the user interface has been created and distributed, the MASP coordinates input and output and makes sure that all parts of the user interface always remain synchronized.

The MASP development framework accelerates the processes of service UI development and integration. It solves the problems posed by heterogeneous device infrastructures like smart environments by providing a new approach of UI development.

Features

Adaptation

User interface adaptation allows the support of multiple devices by adapting to platform specifics and capabilities. Additionally an adaptation to the context-of-use including platform, environment and user allows a comfortable interaction. Adaptation can be performed automatically or be manually triggered by the user.

Migration

The user interface of an active service can migrate from one terminal device to another.Service utilization is neither interrupted by this procedure, nor is any data lost in the UI-transfer.

Distribution

Distribution allows the aggregation of terminal devices to form a compete, multimodal user interface. According to user preferences and service requirements, the MASP chooses among alternative terminal devices those appliances that best support interaction with the service. Multiple simple devices can be aggregated and pooled to be one multimodal, multimedial user interface.

Multimodality

The service is capable of accepting and interpreting multiple modalities. Data input can be submitted via speech, gestures, touch or interaction with keyboard and mouse. Dataoutput is received via audio or video channel. the user can choose communication channels according to his actual needs and preferences.

Session Persistence

When service acticity is interrupted by the user, the MASP freezes the actual service state and parameters. The session can be continued on the same user interface or a different one at a later point in time without data loss.